Stephen Barker Turner and Babak Tafti appear in the New York City premiere of Rajiv Joseph's The North Pool — a drama about tension between a high school principal and a Middle-Eastern-born transfer student — which officially opens March 6 following previews from Feb. 14.

According to the Vineyard, "In the psychological drama The North Pool, a high school principal and a Middle-Eastern-born transfer student engage in a politically and emotionally charged game of cat and mouse, with dangerous consequences."

Turner (playing Dr. Danielson) appeared Off-Broadway in the Keen Company's Benefactors and Classic Stage Company's Race. Tafti (playing Khadim Asmaan) is making his Off-Broadway debut. His regional credits include Scorched (A.C.T.), Blood and Gifts (La Jolla Playhouse) and the East Coast premiere of The North Pool at Barrington Stage. He is a graduate of the Yale School of Drama.

Playwright Joseph was the recipient of Vineyard's 2008 Paula Vogel Award for emerging playwrights. His play, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, a 2010 finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, played on Broadway in 2011, starring Robin Williams. His other plays include Gruesome Playground Injuries, Animals Out of Paper, The Leopard and the Fox, All This Intimacy and Huck & Holden. He has written for the Showtime award-winning series, "Nurse Jackie." He received his B.A. in Creative Writing from Miami University and his M.F.A. in Playwriting from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. Under the direction of Sardelli, The North Pool received its world premiere at TheatreWorks in Palo Alto, CA, prior to its run at Barrington Stage in Massachusetts. It won the 2010 Edgerton New American Play Award.